Pete Rose tombstone: ‘Here lies the biggest winner in the history of sports’
Pete Rose told Mike Francesa on his radio show that he would like his tombstone to extol his legacy as sports “biggest winner.”
Is it July already? It is not? Well, you could have fooled us.
Pete Rose is capturing headlines this week, which is a strange turn events. The reason why is that he usually remains dormant before Baseball Hall of Fame induction season during the mid-point of the summer. Perhaps, this has something to do with incoming MLB commissioner elect Rob Manfred, who is set to take office on January 25th.
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Whatever the case might be, Rose was on Mike Francesa’s radio program on Tuesday and he made it abundantly clear what he wants his tombstone to read.
“Here lies the biggest winner in the history of sports.”
Those are some powerful words by Rose. If such an epitaph were the be transcribed, how should we judge its validity and merit? While the man certainly won a lot of ballgames as a player, and briefly as simultaneously a manager and the former, he did not eclipse the total of Connie Mack. His managed teams won 3731 games, the most in Major League Baseball history.
Rose, on the other hand, played in a record number of games as a player with 3,562; still well short of Mack, even before accounting for losses. What about World Series wins? Well, unfortunately, Rose also comes up short. He won three championships as a player; 1975 and 1976 as part of the famed Cincinnati “Big Red Machine,” and one more in 1980 as part of the Philadelphia Phillies.
What about individual player awards? Well, Rose also finishes short there too, significantly. He won his sole MVP trophy in 1973, six less than record holder Barry Bonds. He was a seventeen time all-star, though. The total trails co-leaders Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Stan Musial with twenty-four apiece. His two gold gloves pale in comparison the eighteen won by Greg Maddux.
Perhaps no one will really know what Rose meant by the statement, however, it is interesting to speculate. One thing that might bolster his case is if you look at the base hit for what it truly is; an individual victory against the opposing pitcher.
If that is what Rose was alluding to, then yes, he is the biggest winner in the history of baseball. His 4,256 career hits, and 5,929 times on base are both MLB records. The biggest winner in all of sports? Well, by Rose’s logic you could really use any other statistic in the same light.
Something tells us Brett Favre (passing yardage record) is not about to make the same declaration.